House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Road Traffic Control

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much has been spent on traffic marshals in the last six months.

Sir Charles Walker: The House of Commons Commission has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Home Office

Police: Sexual Offences

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces have a specialist rape and serious sexual offences unit in Wales.

Chris Philp: We recognise that specialist skills and knowledge is critical to ensuring rape and sexual offence cases are progressed and managed effectively.Operation Soteria, a joint policing and CPS programme established as part of the Rape Review Action Plan to develop new national operating models for the investigation and prosecution of rape, has highlighted the importance of specialist knowledge. The Home Office, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and College of Policing have established a new Operation Soteria Joint Unit which is working with every police force in England and Wales to support them to successfully implement the National Operating Model.2,000 police officers will receive specialist training on investigating these horrific crimes by April. This will mean more officers building stronger cases and placing victims at the heart of their response.The deployment of officers, however, is a matter for Chief Constables and the Home Office does not hold data on the number of police forces with specialist rape and serious sexual offences units.

Fire and Rescue Services: Contamination

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is taking steps to help protect firefighters from harmful fire contaminants.

Chris Philp: The health and safety of firefighters is of paramount importance and emerging research indicating that they may be exposed to contaminants is concerning. The Home Office are commissioning a literature review of such research that will involve a comprehensive review of published literature on the risk contaminants pose to firefighters along with related decontamination protocols.Fire and rescue authorities, as the employers, must take seriously their responsibility for the health and wellbeing of firefighters, they should be mindful of the emerging research in this area and take appropriate action to protect their workforce – including appropriate decontamination processes for equipment.We are working closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council and partners across government to understand the potential risk and whether further action is needed.

Crime: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to increase (a) charge rates and (b) support for victims of crime in (i) Newport West and (ii) Wales.

Chris Philp: (a) We are working with partners across the CJS to increase the number of cases being charged and prosecuted, and reduce the time taken to reach this point. We are freeing up the police from unnecessary burdens, such as through the Right Care Right Person model for mental health, so they can focus on keeping the public safe, and are investing in technology to speed up police’s work on case files, such as automating redaction. We also welcome the recent commitment from police forces across England and Wales to pursue all leads where there is a reasonable chance it could result in catching a perpetrator and solving a crime (Police pledge to pursue any reasonable lead to solve more crime - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).(b) We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. There are over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak before the Police Uplift Programme, in March 2010. At 30 September 2023, Gwent police had 1,527 officers and all forces in Wales had a total of 8,108 officers.(c) Protecting victims and improving their experience and the support they receive is a key priority for the Government. We recognise the importance of victims having access to the support they may need to cope and recover from the impact of crime. The Government is quadrupling funding for victim services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) provides all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales with grant funding to commission victim support services for victims of all crime types. PCCs are best placed to understand their local communities and providers, and to commission appropriate support to meet that need. The total allocation for Gwent PCC for 22/23 was £1,306,258.40.We have also recommissioned the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF), which is providing £26 million between August 2023 and March 2025 to more than 60 specialist sexual violence victim support services across England and Wales.  Further details on the breakdown of funding, including which services are funded in Wales can be found in the data on organisations awarded funding from the RASASF

Fire and Rescue Services: Standards

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce fire and rescue service response times.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to increase crewing levels for fire and rescue services.

Chris Philp: The government is committed to ensuring fire services have the resources they need to do their important work and to keep the public safe.In 2023/24, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.6 billion. Decisions on how their resources, including staff, are best deployed to meet their core functions including crewing and meeting response times, is a matter for each fire and rescue authority, based on risks identified within local Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs).

Home Office: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Chris Philp: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.Under the Public Sector Equality Duty all public authorities, including Government departments, are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions.While equality impact assessments may be produced, there is no legal requirement for duty assessments to be recorded in a specific format.

Batley Grammar School: Harassment

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with West Yorkshire police on the steps being taken to (a) provide support to and (b) respond to threats made against the suspended teacher from Batley Grammar school.

Chris Philp: The Home Office was in close contact with West Yorkshire Police, who worked with local partners to take swift action at the time to protect the individual involved, in recognition of the significant interest both locally, nationally and across various media outlets. We expect the police to continue to take appropriate and proportionate action in relation to any threats made.It would not be appropriate to provide further information or details in relation to a specific case. The government remains steadfast in our commitment to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and must always stand up to those who seek to undermine our fundamental values.

Metropolitan Police: Airports

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police on the use of posters in UK airports requesting information on alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Chris Philp: Police are operationally independent and should remain so.The Home Secretary meets with the Met Police Commander to discuss a range of issues.

Sikhs: Threat to Life Notices

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to (a) assess and (b) ensure the safety of members of the Sikh community issued with Osman notices.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential risks to British Sikh activists of international incidents involving members of the Sikh community.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help ensure the safety of British citizens involved in international political movements.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what processes are in place to evaluate the credibility of threats leading to the issuing of Osman warnings in the Sikh community.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to liaise with the Sikh community over safety concerns.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will review the (a) support and (b) protection measures available to (i) individuals and (ii) families who have received Osman warnings.

Tom Tugendhat: The UK is proud of its diverse communities, and British Sikhs contribute immensely to the strength of our society.We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK seriously.

Hate Crime: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of hate crime targeted at LGBT+ people in (a) Wales and (b) Newport West constituency.

Laura Farris: The Government is pleased to see the overall reduction in police-recorded hate crime across forces in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023, including a 6% reduction in sexual orientation hate crimes. Whilst an 11% increase in transgender hate crime was seen, and this may partly be due to a genuine rise, the biggest driver is likely to be general improvements in police recording along with increased victim willingness to come forward. We are clear that any instance is one too many and we remain committed to tackling these appalling offences. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. Part of this necessitates police recruitment and training – there are over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak before the Police Uplift Programme, in March 2010. Wales as a whole now has 8,108 officers (headcount as at 30 September 2023). Funding for Wales will be up to £936.4m in 2024/25, an increase of up to £56m when compared to 2023/24.Gwent specifically now has 1,527 officers (headcount as at 30 September 2023). Funding for Gwent will be £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £10.7 million when compared to 2023/24. The Government continues to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of all forms of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We also fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to provide expert advice to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime.The Government is providing over £3m of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting hate-related bullying and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic based bullying.

UK Border Force: English Channel

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many days did each of the Border Force's (a) five cutters and (b) six coastal patrol vessels spend (i) out of service due to scheduled repair and maintenance and (ii) on active duty supporting small boat operations in the Dover straits in 2023.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many days did at least one of the Border Force's (a) five cutters and (b) six coastal patrol vessels spend on active duty supporting small boats operations in the Dover Straits in 2023.

Michael Tomlinson: During 2023, the Cutter & CPV fleet did not provide assistance to small boat operations in the South East region.Instead, Border Force utilised a fleet of 5 Commercial Transfer Vessels (CTVs) - Defender, Hurricane, Ranger, Typhoon and Volunteer.Out of the 604 small boat events that occurred in 2023, the CTVs successfully intercepted 544, accounting for a 90% interception rate, the remaining interceptions were carried out by the RNLI due to asset suitability in deteriorating weather conditions.This framework in the South East allows the Cutter & CPV fleet to focus on maritime enforcement deployments around the UK.

Members: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to the email of 9 January 2024 from the hon. Member for Sefton Central on an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain, case reference: BE8124.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office works to a service standard of replying to Members’ correspondence within 20 working days. The MP Account Management team expects to reply to the Hon. Member by the target date of 6 February.

Immigration: Personal Income

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the net migration measures announced in December 2023, whether changes to the minimum income thresholds will apply to people who are already on the 10 year route to settlement.

Tom Pursglove: The ten year route to settlement as a spouse is for those who cannot meet the core requirements of the family rules in Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules, but who have exceptional circumstances.Those on the ten year route to settlement are able to switch back to the five year route to shorten their route to settlement, if they believe they are able to meet all of the core requirements. In such circumstances, applicants would be required to meet the new level of the Minimum Income Requirement in place at the time they make their application.

Naturalisation: Children

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce processing times for decisions on the naturalisation of children.

Tom Pursglove: The Secretary of State’s Home Department publishes data on the processing of applications for British citizenship on the Gov.uk website. This includes performance against the service standard for completing applications. The most recent Migration Transparency Data published in November 2023 shows that 99.9% of straightforward applications were decided within service standard.The link to the latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visas-and-citizenship-data-q3-2023.

Naturalisation: Applications

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his Department's average processing time for reaching a decision on a naturalisation application was in each of the last five years.

Tom Pursglove: The Secretary of State’s Home Department publishes data on the processing of applications for British citizenship on the Gov.uk website. This includes performance against the service standard for completing applications. The most recent Migration Transparency Data published in November 2023 shows that 99.98% of straightforward applications were decided within service standard. The link to the latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visas-and-citizenship-data-q3-2023.

Electronic Travel Authorisations: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department made an assessment before 2023 of the potential impact of the introduction of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on the number of personnel required to carry out checks in the event that the ETA did necessitate checks at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Tom Pursglove: The UK Government remains committed to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and in support of this, ensuring there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, so no such assessment has been made. As now, the UK will not operate routine immigration controls on journeys from within the Common Travel Area, with no immigration controls whatsoever on the Ireland-Northern Ireland land border. However, as is currently the case, individuals arriving in the UK, including those crossing the land border into Northern Ireland, will need to continue to enter in line with the UK’s immigration framework, including the requirement to obtain an ETA when it is introduced.

Department of Health and Social Care

Pharmacy: Artificial Intelligence

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using artificial intelligence to undertake (a) assessments of medication for (i) compatibility and (ii) necessity and (b) other pharmaceutical checks.

Andrew Stephenson: The future of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its potential benefits are exciting. We have already made great strides in this area and a number of projects are already underway, all with the aim of accelerating the safe, ethical, and effective use of AI in health and care. For example, we have invested £123 million to test and evaluate AI technologies in crucial areas that cause the most harm to health and the economy, such as strokes and lung cancer.The Department has not yet made an assessment of the potential merits of using AI to undertake evaluations of the compatibility, necessity, and other pharmaceutical checks, for medication. However, we will continue to explore where AI could be deployed across health and care systems to transform patient experience and improve health outcomes.

Hospitals: Admissions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to tackle the number of hospital admissions due to incorrect medication prescriptions.

Andrew Stephenson: Clinicians are responsible for making prescription decisions for their patients, and are accountable for these decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners. It is for the general practitioner (GP) or other responsible clinician to work with their patient and decide on the course of treatment, with the provision that the most clinically appropriate care for the individual is always the primary consideration.The National Medicines Optimisation Opportunities for the National Health Service includes resources to support medicines optimisation implementation for multiple areas. Of these opportunities, those which support tackling overprescribing include: addressing problematic polypharmacy, addressing inappropriate antidepressant prescribing, addressing low priority prescribing, reducing course length of antimicrobial prescribing and reducing opioid use in chronic non-cancer pain.The Quality and Outcomes Framework for GPs includes modules designed to support GPs with the best prescription practices, as well as medication safety. The overarching aim is to lead to improvements in:- use of non-pharmacological alternatives in line with best evidence and guidance;- structured medication reviews of patients taking 120 milligrams of oral morphine equivalent or more for chronic pain; and- structured medication reviews where there is polypharmacy or inappropriate use of dependence forming medications.

Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to increase public awareness of the (a) roles and (b) competencies of (i) anaesthesia and (ii) physician associates in the NHS.

Andrew Stephenson: Anaesthesia associates (AAs) and physician associates (PAs) are integral parts of the multi-disciplinary healthcare team. The Government greatly values the work of AAs and PAs and is introducing regulation as part of our commitment to the roles, and to their place in the multi-disciplinary workforce.The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out significant expansion of the roles over the coming years, as part of plans to grow the multi-disciplinary workforce. The Government and NHS England are undertaking extensive engagement around this expansion to increase public and patient understanding of the roles and how they contribute to safe, effective patient care.In primary care, NHS England has produced patient-facing materials that have been shared widely with general practices to support patient awareness and understanding of the PA role.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines set out that all healthcare professionals directly involved in a patient's care should introduce themselves and explain to the patient the roles and responsibilities of the different members of the healthcare team.In advance of their regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC) later this year, the GMC has published interim standards for AAs and PAs which make it clear that professionals should always introduce their role to patients and set out their responsibilities in the team.

NHS England and NHS Improvement

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish the (a) dates and (b) draft agendas of meetings of committees of NHS England and NHS Improvement scheduled for 2024.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is required under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 to publish the agenda for its board meetings in advance, and to hold board meetings in public.NHS England’s board has delegated some of its duties and responsibilities to Board Committees which provide regular assurance and, by exception, escalate issues that merit full board discussion and decision. A list of Board Committees is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/nhs-england-board/board-governance/Committee activity is also summarised in the Accountability Report section of NHS England’s Annual Reports and Accounts.

NHS: Pay

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress her Department has made on (a) reviewing the timing and appointment process for the NHS pay review bodies, (b) increasing NHS Staff Council input into NHS pay review bodies and (c) implementing the other non-pay elements of the 2023-24 NHS pay agreement relating to the future pay-setting process.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is committed to ensuring that the pay setting process and the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) operates effectively. As part of non-pay commitments from the Agenda for Change deal, we are working with stakeholders to explore four themes: the timing of rounds; the interaction between the Staff Council and the NHSPRB; common data sources between stakeholders; and how appointments are made to the NHSPRB.The work to review these elements of the process is currently underway, and the outcomes will be agreed in due course. The Government will continue to engage constructively with trade unions and employers to deliver all of the non-pay commitments to support the National Health Service workforce, including the pay-setting process.

Tourette's Syndrome: Health Services

Keir Mather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing NICE guidance for (a) Tourette's syndrome and (b) other tic disorders.

Andrew Stephenson: Tourette syndrome was discussed in 2022 by a cross-agency topic prioritisation group, made up of senior executives from the Department, NHS England, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The group did not consider it to be a national priority at that time and therefore decided not to prioritise development of a NICE guideline on Tourette syndrome.NICE is currently finalising a new approach to topic prioritisation, which will come into effect in May 2024, operationalised through an integrated prioritisation board led by NICE’s Chief Medical Officer. NICE plans to consult on its new prioritisation process and a common framework for topic selection at the beginning of March. Details will be made available on the NICE website in due course. NICE is also developing medical technologies guidance on digitally-enabled therapy for tic disorders in children and young people. This is in the early stages of development. NICE expects to consult on the draft guidance between 5 September and 3 October 2024, with publication of final guidance in December 2024.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients who received an urgent GP referral for a suspected cancer in the last six months have (a) been diagnosed with cancer and (b) received confirmation that cancer has not been detected within 28 days of their referral.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hospitals: Construction

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is for the commencement of outstanding building works on hospitals under the Hospitals Transformation Programme.

Andrew Stephenson: Full planning permission has recently been granted for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital development and enabling works have commenced on site. The full business case is expected in the coming months, in which the trust will set out the final delivery timetable for the building works for the Hospital Transformation Programme.

Community Diagnostic Centres: Osteoporosis

Matt Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the number of community diagnostic centres that have bone densitometry scanning facilities.

Andrew Stephenson: As of mid-January 2024, 19 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are delivering dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) testing, with plans for five more CDCs to start providing DEXA tests by the end of 2023/24.

Pathology: Digital Technology

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Digital pathology to improve cancer screening and save lives, published on 5 January 2024, what additional training will be given to pathologists working to enable the quick uptake of new technology.

Andrew Stephenson: Following the recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee to support the use of digital pathology in the National Health Service cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening programmes, NHS England are investing in and working with the Royal College of Pathologists in the on-going development of an online Pathology Portal.This digital learning platform will support trainees and established pathology practitioners in digital pathology to ensure that digital learning materials are available to the multi-professional workforce.NHS England plans to issue guidance at the end of January 2024 for the three NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, to support local providers of histopathology services who wish to implement digital pathology for the reporting of screening cases.

Pharmacy: Training

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure training of pharmacy staff for implementation of the Pharmacy First Service.

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the results of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association survey on preparedness of pharmacists for Pharmacy First, published on 15 January 2024.

Andrea Leadsom: Over 93% of community pharmacy contractors have signed up to deliver Pharmacy First when it launches on 31 January 2024.A set-up fee will be paid to contractors that have signed up to recognise that they must ensure that pharmacists and pharmacy staff providing the service are competent to do so, which may involve training. Pharmacists and their teams will also need to familiarise themselves with the service specification, patient group directions and patient pathways, which have all been published. The fee structure that has been agreed with Community Pharmacy England recognises that both pharmacy teams and the public will build confidence in delivering and using the service over time.In addition, Community Pharmacy England has developed a checklist and a range of support materials for both pharmacy owners and pharmacists, including locums, to help them get ready for the service. Contractors are supported by additional resources provided by the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education to ensure participating pharmacists are clinically competent to deliver these services safely.

Health: Children

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of regional inequalities in child health.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) leads a range of universal public health interventions and guidance for ages zero to 19 that provide universal support and identify and respond to further needs and safeguarding concerns. We also deliver programmes specifically targeted at particular populations, including the Family Nurse Partnership to support vulnerable young mothers; the Healthy Start scheme to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four from low-income households; and Mental Health Support Teams in schools.The Government is investing around £300 million over three years to improve support for families though the joint DHSC and Department for Education Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. Launched in August 2022, the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is delivering a step change in outcomes for babies, children and their parents and carers in 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation.In addition, we measure child health outcomes at the regional level through regular surveillance programmes.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the letters of 14 November and 13 December 2023 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare sent on behalf of a constituent on dementia.

Helen Whately: I replied to the hon. Member on 25 January 2024.

Social Services: Staff

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 67 of the People at the Heart of Care white paper, published in December 2021, whether it remains her Department's policy that the remainder of the funding to support the adult social care workforce will be allocated in 2024.

Helen Whately: The Government is fully committed to the 10-year vision for adult social care set out in the People at the Heart of Care white paper. We want care to be outstanding quality, personalised and accessible. The social care workforce remains at the heart of our reform plans. Our vision is for an adult social care workforce where people feel supported, recognised, and have opportunities to develop and progress. Our workforce reforms will provide the workforce with more support to develop and progress within their careers and will improve the quality, safety, and personalisation of care. The Next Steps to put People at the Heart of Care plan, published in April 2023, set out how we are investing up to £700 million over this year and next, building on over £100 million already invested in 2022/23. This included substantial investment on workforce reform including a new care workforce pathway, a new level 2 qualification, investment in apprenticeships and funding to pay for thousands of learning and development courses for social care staff. Since then, we have announced an additional £570 million funding boost for local authorities to make tangible improvements to adult social care workforce capacity, including to boost care worker pay. Despite some delays, we are making good progress and have recently announced the launch of the Pathway, Apprenticeship fund and the specification for the qualification as well as some additional funding for social care staff learning and development. We remain committed to the delivery of the whole programme.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department investigated the alleged leaking of confidential information to companies bidding for PPE contracts in 2020.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment criteria her Department used when awarding a contract for supply of PPE to ILC UK Ltd in 2020.

Andrew Stephenson: All offers to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including that from I Love Cosmetics Ltd for hand sanitiser, were evaluated by Departmental officials on the supplier’s financial standing, compliance with minimum product, service and technical specifications and ability to perform the contract. Contracts were awarded by the appropriate Departmental accounting officer in line with the Department’s standard terms and conditions.The Department is not aware of any allegations regarding the leaking of confidential information to companies offering to supply PPE.

Prostate Cancer: Screening

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking to steps to use (a) screening and (b) enhanced testing to increase early diagnosis rates for prostate cancer.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer as the current test, the Prostate Specific Antigen test, does not meet the required accuracy for use in a national screening programme. Current methods offer insufficient benefit in relation to harms caused by overdiagnosis, which could result in invasive investigative procedures and unnecessary treatment, to warrant roll out as an organised screening programme. The UK NSC is due to review prostate cancer again in 2024 and will consider new evidence published between the two reviews.In November 2023 we announced that we will be funding a £42 million screening trial with Prostate Cancer UK, to find ways of detecting country’s most common male cancer earlier. The first-of-its-kind trial called TRANSFORM will use innovative screening methods like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning to detect prostate cancer, and it will see hundreds of thousands of men across the country participating.Steps have been taken to use enhanced testing to increase early diagnosis rates for prostate cancer; NHS England have streamlined cancer pathways, including implementing a best timed prostate cancer diagnostic pathway so that those suspected of prostate cancer receive a multi-parametric MRI scan first, which ensures only those men most at-risk undergo an invasive biopsy. Furthermore, to boost early diagnosis NHS England is supporting three pilots, including the Man Van as part of the COVID-19 catch up cancer initiative. The Man Van was launched in March 2022 to provide free health checks for men and boost early diagnosis of prostate cancer.In addition, backed by £2.3 billion capital funding, the Department is expanding diagnostic capacity across the National Health Service by rolling out more community diagnostic centres (CDCs), delivering vital tests, scans and checks. With 150 CDCs open already and up to 160 set to open by March 2025, these offer millions of patients the chance to access quicker, more convenient checks outside of hospitals, with capacity prioritised for cancer. This is contributing to the elective recovery delivery plan ambition for 75% of patients urgently referred by their general practice for suspected cancer, to receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the list of medical conditions which meet the criteria for a medical exemption certificate.

Andrea Leadsom: Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge. People on a low income who do not qualify for an exemption from prescription charges can seek help under the NHS Low Income Scheme, which provides help with health costs on an income-related basis. For those who do not qualify for an exemption, prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) allow people to obtain as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. A three-monthly PPC or an annual PPC will save people money if they need four or more items in three months or 13 or more items in 12 months.

Integrated Care Systems: Staffordshire

Dame Karen Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when funding for the Integrated Health Care Hubs in North Staffordshire will be made available to the Integrated care board in North Staffordshire.

Helen Whately: Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is currently developing the business cases for the North Staffordshire Integrated Health Care Hubs, and is responsible for driving them through the usual assurance and approval processes. NHS England and the Department will consider these cases once received from the trust.

National Cancer Screening Programmes in England Review

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps she has taken to implement the recommendations of Sir Mike Richards' report entitled the Independent review of adult screening programmes in England, published in October 2019.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department, NHS England and formerly Public Health England, took forward a number of workstreams to address the recommendations made by Prof Sir Mike Richards as part of the review of adult screening programmes. A number of these workstreams have already been completed, including since June 2022, the expanded remit of the UK National Screening Committee to review targeted and stratified screening alongside population screening programmes and guidance published in 2020 on tackling equalities. We continue to work with NHS England to improve uptake of screening programmes, including through data sharing, research, and via the Digital Transformation of Screening programme. This programme is designing and implementing future-proof digital systems that will allow programmes to become more responsive for service users and providers.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 29 November 2022 to Question 94900 on Breast Cancer: Screening, what progress has been made on a new breast screening IT system.

Andrew Stephenson: Work on the Digital Transformation of Screening (DToS) programme is ongoing. When introduced, it will start to give breast screening offices across the country a single consolidated England-wide view of participants and improvements to appointment booking, which will allow the option for online booking and self-serve appointment. These changes to data monitoring and appointments will be delivered incrementally over the next 24 months, subject to funding. Longer term, the current breast screening IT system will be completely replaced by the DToS.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 15 September 2023 to Question 198696 on Breast Cancer: Screening,  what national evaluative projects have been commissioned; and what are the timelines for their delivery.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England has commissioned a series of evaluative projects to improve the NHS Breast Screening Programme. These include actively following up women who have missed an appointment or not engaged with the service; looking at the reasons why women do not attend screening to address any barriers; and assessing the impact on screening uptake using different invitation methodologies with reference to factors such as age, previous screening history including attendance at first invitations and subsequent invites, and deprivation.These projects are expected to report by April 2024.

Prostate Cancer: Drugs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the clinical lead proposal form relating to abiraterone acetate as a treatment for advanced high risk non-metastatic prostate cancer was (a) completed and (b) sent to the Clinical Effectiveness Team (NHS England) under section A1.4 of Methods: National clinical policies.

Andrew Stephenson: The application form for a clinical policy relating to this treatment was initially received by NHS England on 29 March 2022. The policy proposition continues to be developed in line with NHS England’s document, Methods: national clinical policies.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

North Korea: Russia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports of North Korea providing military support to Russia.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has supplied weapons, including ballistic missiles, to Russia, as fifty Foreign Ministers made clear in their 9 January joint statement. At a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on 10 January, the UK joined partners in condemning the use of DPRK-supplied ballistic missiles by Russia against Ukraine. The DPRK is already subject to a robust sanctions regime and the UK will continue to work with our partners to hold the DPRK to account for supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. We will continue to work with allies and partners to identify, expose, and counter Russian attempts to acquire military equipment from third countries.

Red Sea: Piracy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the impact of Saudi Arabia's omission from Operation Prosperity Guardian on the UK's relation with that country.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Maritime security features in our discussions with all of our Gulf partners, including Saudi Arabia, which plays a central role in the region, and with which the UK has a strategic relationship. The Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary have been in regular contact with their Saudi counterparts in recent weeks, and explained why the UK joined with other allies in Operation Prosperity Guardian, in response to sustained Houthi attacks on international shipping. The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia both have a shared interest in supporting the UN-led peace process in Yemen and working towards a sustainable long term political settlement in Yemen.

Gaza: Development Aid

Ms Anum Qaisar: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the scale of damage to UK-funded projects in Gaza since 7 October 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Given the ongoing conflict, we are not able to provide this assessment at this time. There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza.We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to increase access. We are pushing to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to be respected and civilians to be protected.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Alan Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8039 Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, how much and what proportion of UK aid destined for Gaza has been (a) shipped to Egypt and (b) held by the Egyptian Red Crescent Society as of 17 January 2024.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has delivered 156 tonnes of UK aid for Gaza via Egypt. 74 tonnes were delivered on board ship RFA Lyme Bay and the remainder by air.UK supplies have been passed on to our partners in the region and the majority are already in Gaza.We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to increase access.

Red Sea: Piracy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Qatari financial support to the Houthis on their ability to launch the recent attacks on UK and NATO naval vessels.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Qatar is an important friend to the UK; our bilateral relationship is deep-rooted and includes wide ranging cooperation across many areas including regional security. The UK works closely with Qatar on issues of regional security. We have regular Ministerial engagement with Qatar on a range of issues, with the Foreign Secretary and Minister for Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, meeting their counterparts in December.Prior to our self-defensive strike on Houthi targets, we had been engaging extensively with regional partners to deter Houthi threats and to ensure freedom of navigation and safe passage in the Red Sea. It is in all our interests to work together to de-escalate tensions in the region.

Libya: Politics and Government

Afzal Khan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterparts (a) in Libya and (b) internationally on de-escalating tensions in Libya.

David Rutley: We continue to engage with Libyan interlocutors to encourage them to work constructively with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Bathily as he seeks to facilitate a political agreement. This aims to address the underlying issues preventing elections, as demonstrated by the UK-led UN Presidential Statement on 16 March. We support SRSG Bathily's efforts to outline a way forward to a unified Government, and continue to work with Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Turkey, UAE and the US in support of the UN-led political process.

Libya: Politics and Government

Afzal Khan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the political situation in Libya on regional stability.

David Rutley: The current political impasse leaves Libya vulnerable to external powers seeking to sow instability in the region for their own gain, including hostile state actors and terrorist groups. For example, stagnation on the political process has allowed the Russian Wagner Group to conduct destabilising activities, to further their aims at the expense of Libyans, whilst using Libya as a base to destabilise the region. The UK-drafted UNSCR-2570, agreed unanimously in April 2021, makes clear that all foreign forces and mercenaries must leave Libya without delay, including the Russian Wagner Group. The UK government remains clear that a political solution is needed to mitigate these destabilising activities and deliver for the Libyan people.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2023 to Question 9028 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, can he provide a full list of the UK aid supplies for Gaza that have been refused entry by the Israeli authorities since 7 October 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: UK supplies have been passed on to our partners in the region and the majority are already in Gaza.The Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what proportion of UK aid sent to Gaza since 7 October 2023 has entered Gaza as of 15 January 2024.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: UK supplies have been passed on to our partners in the region and the majority are already in Gaza.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps he is taking with his (a) Israeli counterpart and (b) the UN to help ensure the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2720.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government continues to discuss and press for the action that needs to be taken to increase aid to Gaza in his regular calls with Israeli counterparts. The Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson, is also working intensely to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza. The Foreign Secretary recently met with Sigrid Kaag, the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, who was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023). We are exploring options to support Ms Kaag in her role, as she develops her priorities.

West Bank: Violence

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the cost of (a) domestic settler violence to Palestinian property and (b) trends in the level of insurance coverage for Palestinians in the West Bank.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We have urged Israel to take stronger action to stop settler violence and hold the perpetrators accountable; extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have emphasised to Prime Minister Netanyahu that it is critical that Israel acts to reduce tensions in the West Bank.As the Foreign Secretary said on 14 December, we are preventing those responsible for settler violence from entering the UK.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on restrictions that have been placed by Israel on the types of aid that are permitted to enter Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity.The Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to increase access.

Gaza: Hospitals

Claire Hanna: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) his Israeli counterpart and (b) international agencies on taking steps to help ensure the (i) safe use and (ii) protection of medical facilities in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL); including the protection of hospitals, civilians, and medical staff. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians. The Prime Minister has made this clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu and has been in close contact throughout. The UK trebled our aid commitment this financial year and is doing everything it can do to get more aid in and open more crossings. We are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to get aid to where it is desperately needed.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Richard Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the potential impact of Israel's dual use policy on getting aid into Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity.We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to increase access.

Israel: Gaza

Andy McDonald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2024 to Question 8441 on Israel: Gaza, whether he has sought legal advice on the (a) absence of intention to commit genocide on the part of the Israeli leadership and (b) threshold for engaging signatories to the Genocide Convention to comply with their duties under Articles I and VII.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As previously stated, in terms of the situation in Gaza, we recognise that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We do not believe that calling this genocide is the right approach; it is wrong to suggest that Israeli leadership, and Israel as a country, have the intention to commit genocide. Ultimately, it is for the courts to decide on the matters of genocide, not for states.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to get aid to where it is desperately needed. Our focus must be on practical solutions that save lives, and we need a humanitarian pause now to allow humanitarian actors and Gazans to operate and move safely, and enable hostages to be released. Israel must also take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza, including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity. We continue to press Israel to increase the flexibility and visibility on goods allowed into Gaza. It must:Ensure effective systems to guarantee the safety of aid convoys, humanitarian operations and IDP returns, and facilitate access.Ensure the UN has the people, vehicles, equipment and fuel to distribute aid safely across Gaza. This includes issuing visas.Extend the opening hours and capacity of the Nitzana screening facility and Kerem Shalom checkpoint so more trucks, aid and fuel can enter Gaza.Open the Kerem Shalom crossing 7 days a week.Remove restrictions to ensure greater consistency on the goods allowed in.Unencumbered access to aid coming from Jordan.Open Ashdod Port as a route for aid to reach Gaza.Open the Erez Crossing to allow direct access to the north of Gaza.Restore water, fuel and electricity connections.The Foreign Secretary has also appointed his Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson, who is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.

Christianity

Claire Hanna: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Open Doors entitled World Watch List 2024.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We note the launch of the report by Open Doors entitled World Watch List 2024.Championing Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all remains a priority for the UK. We will continue to recognise, and seek to address, the issue of persecution of Christians globally on account of their faith, alongside the persecution of those of other religions or beliefs.

Unitaid: Finance

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will provide funding for Unitaid.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has been a strong supporter and partner of Unitaid for over 17 years. We continue to highly value Unitaid's work to drive access to life-saving new health technologies for those who need them most.The UK has a 20-year donor arrangement with Unitaid from 2007-2026 and has contributed £588 million to date. Allocations for 2025-26 and beyond will form part of the next Spending Review process.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much of the Shared Prosperity Fund has been allocated; and if he will publish a list of all projects that have received money from the fund since its inception.

Jacob Young: The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a £2.6 billion fund for local investment by March 2025. All areas of the UK receive an allocation via a funding formula rather than competition.We have delegated responsibility for delivering the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to local government. Therefore, it is for places to decide how they use their allocation and this will depend on locally identified priorities. Delivery and management of projects is undertaken at a local level and local authorities can decide when and how to publish on their projects. The department captures this information for fund management purposes.

Housing: Regulation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department takes to consult tenants on developments in the regulated housing sector.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department issues to the regulated housing sector on consultation with tenants.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of funding an independent body to represent the interests of tenants in the regulated housing sector.

Jacob Young: Our charter for social housing residents is clear that every resident can expect to have their voice heard by their landlord. Empowering residents at the local level to hold their landlords to account is at the heart of our new regulatory framework.The Regulator of Social Housing has recently consulted on its revised draft consumer standards, one of which is the proposed Transparency, Influence & Accountability standard. This standard will set an expectation that registered providers must take tenants’ views into account in their decision making about how landlord services are delivered. The revised consumer standards will be introduced from 1 April this year.We are committed to listening to social housing residents. Both my department - through our Resident Panel which enables residents from across the country to directly share their views with government - and the Regulator have forums to ensure that residents’ voices help guide and inform our work. We also have an Expert Challenge Panel, which consults key experts in the sector, including tenant groups. We will continue working to strengthen resident voice and are extending the Resident Panel into 2024/25.We are currently inviting views from social housing tenants on the proposals for ‘Awaab’s Law’ through the live government consultation and will continue to consult tenants on developments in the social housing sector.

Homelessness: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps with the London Borough of Havering to provide (a) shelter, (b) warmth and (c) nutrition to homeless people in Romford constituency.

Felicity Buchan: The Government is committed to ending rough sleeping and is investing over £2 billion over three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including £547 million through the Rough Sleeping Initiative which provides local authorities with resources to fund accommodation and support.The London Borough of Havering directly receives £812,000 from the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25. As part of the East London sub-regional partnership, Havering also has the opportunity to benefit from additional funding of £1.4 million in 2023/24 and £767,000 in 24/25, provided through uplifts to the RSI announced in September 2023 and January 2024. Havering has also been allocated £3,166,185 in 2023/24 and £2,563,042 in 2024/25 through the Homelessness Prevention Grant.

Buildings: Floods

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support flooded (a) businesses and (b) residential dwellings in areas that do not meet Bellwin scheme thresholds.

Simon Hoare: Further to my answer to Question UIN 9235 on 16 January 2024, The Flood Recovery Framework provides support for flooded businesses and households and operates separately from the Bellwin Scheme which, when activated, can provide support to local authorities for their eligible response costs.

Land Registry

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of applications for register updates to the HM Land Registry held on file as of 22 January 2024 were requested more than (a) six and (b) 12 months ago.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 2374 about HM Land Registry’s processing times on 24 November 2023.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Communication

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has spent on communications in each year since 1997.

Mr Alister Jack: The Scotland Office is resourced to deliver the communications functions expected and required of a government department in its own right and on behalf of the UK Government in Scotland with a wide range of functions. These include external affairs, marketing, digital and social media, media, internal and strategic communication. The figures for 2022-23 reflect changes made to bring the Office into line with wider UKG departmental reporting practice which saw visits and engagement staff included in the communications division. The Office does not hold directly comparable figures for each year since the Office was established in 1999. The Office’s Annual Reports are available online. Expenditure on staffing costs, including employer’s pensions and national insurance contributions, but excluding any VAT where applicable, to deliver these functions for the last full financial year and available years was: YearStaff costs (£)2022-231,166,2702021-22944,6452020-21906,1772019-20870,1592018-19819, 6402017-18710,3372016-17757,8682015-16426,2232014-15348,8952013-14241,6362012-13180,9542011-12169,3732010-11108, 4392009-10144,0842008-09115,3562007-08113,236

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Girlguiding UK: Finance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department has provided to Girlguiding UK in each of the last five years.

Stuart Andrew: The table below sets out the breakdown of funding provided by my department for the last five years (2018 until present day). Please note that this table only includes direct government funding from DCMS and excludes funding from Other Government Departments, arms length bodies, local authorities and any other non-DCMS avenues of funding. Girlguiding may also indirectly benefit from other DCMS funding such as that delivered to other uniformed youth groups through the sharing of facilities with Scouts groups for instance. Name of DCMS fund:Breakdown of date and total amount of funding provided in GBP from the past 5 years (broken down by financial years):Uniformed Youth Fund 2018-19£718,458 (2018/19)Tampon Tax Fund£120,000 (2018/19) £30,000 (2019/20)Big Night In Fund£4,865.26 (2020/21)Youth Covid-19 Support Fund£2,858,000 (2020/21)Adventures Away from Home Fund (Phase 1)£20,560 (2022/23)Youth Investment Fund (YIF), Phase 1£167,658.00 (2021/22)Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund£201,108 (2022/23)Uniformed Youth Fund 2022-25£1,907,170 (2022-25)

Girlguiding UK: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the decision by Girlguiding UK to cease operations in British Overseas Territories; and whether her Department is providing support to those territories as a result of that decision.

Stuart Andrew: This Government is committed to protecting the United Kingdom’s core national interests, ensuring the prosperity of the British people across the Overseas Territories.As an independent organisation it is for Girlguiding to set its own organisational direction. However, Government recognises the importance of Girlguiding to many girls in Overseas Territories. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, alongside colleagues in the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office and Ministry of Defence, are discussing this with Girlguiding.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Aviation

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the transparency data entitled DCMS: Ministerial travel, 1 July to 30 September 2023, published on 15 December 2023, how much and what proportion of the £17,601.43 cost of the trip to Sydney between 17 August and 21 August 2023 was spent on air travel.

Julia Lopez: The Secretary of State’s trip to Australia was to represent the UK Government at the FIFA Women's World Cup, supporting the Lionesses in the final, as well as undertaking a number of engagements to support the UK's culture sector.The cost of her return flight from London to Sydney was £11,845.41.

Treasury

Consumer Goods: Prices

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the potential increase in the average price of goods following the redirection of ships around the Cape of Good Hope.

Bim Afolami: Since November, due to Houthi attacks, 12 international shipping companies have been forced to suspend passage through the Red Sed, causing lengthy delays and disruption to global supply chains. This has included causing insurance premiums for Red Sea shipping to increase ten-fold; although, this only contributes a small fraction of total costs passed onto the end-consumer.These attacks therefore present a risk of increased prices for consumer goods and energy. Be assured that the Government is working closely with shipping operators to mitigate any potential impact on consumers, and the shipping and supply chain sectors are well practiced at putting contingencies in place to continue to meet their customer needs. The government continues to monitor the situation closely.Freedom of navigation across international shipping lanes in the Red Sea must be protected. These illegal Houthi attacks are putting innocent lives at risk, threatening regional security, and harming the global economy. In all, we have seen more than 25 attacks against ships since the middle of November. This is why the UK and the US, with support from the Netherlands, Canada, Bahrain, and Australia, carried out targeted strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen. This action was necessary, legal, proportionate and right.

Treasury: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.

Gareth Davies: The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors in the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'.The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and we have grown our economy by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third.We have one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and we have set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. We plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States.Since Spending Review 2021, Government has committed an additional £6 billion for energy efficiency and clean heat, up to £20 billion for Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) and £960m through the Green Industries Growth Accelerator.

Beer and Cider: Excise Duties

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of draught relief for (a) beer and (b) cider.

Gareth Davies: Under the new alcohol duty system, Draught Relief provides a 9.2% duty reduction on draught beer and cider products below 8.5% alcohol by volume. This ensures that there will always be a lower duty rate for draught products to recognise the value of our great British pubs. This means that every pint, in every pub across the UK pays less duty than their supermarket equivalent - this is the Government's Brexit Pubs Guarantee.The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms, including Draught Relief, and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.

Energy: Billing

John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing levies on energy bills for households.

Gareth Davies: The government monitors energy levy costs and continually keeps these costs under review.Energy levies pay for investment in critical energy infrastructure necessary for energy security, supporting our successful offshore wind sector, and helping households save energy.

Job Creation: Rother Valley

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal support his Department is providing to help increase the number of skilled jobs in Rother Valley in the next (a) year, (b) 5 years and (c) ten years.

Laura Trott: This government is committed to ensuring that the education and skills system is truly responsive to local needs. That is why at the most recent Spending Review, the government announced the biggest long-term settlement for post-16 education in England since 2015, rising to £3.8bn by 2024-25 over this Parliament. This included the first increase to apprenticeships funding since 2019-2020 – it will rise from £2.5bn in 2021-22 to £2.7bn in 2024-25, investment in Skills Bootcamps to retrain adults, and funding for thousands of T Levels students. This funding will impact areas like the Rother Valley in the short, medium and long term.The government has built on this commitment by delivering a range of measures in places like the Rother Valley, including bringing employers, providers, and stakeholders in a local area together to drive short, medium and long term change through Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIP).

Public Sector: Pay

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on which dates his Department's pay review body remit letters were (a) circulated and (b) published in each year since 2010.

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the deadline is for when Departments should provide submissions to public sector pay review bodies for the 2024-25 financial year.

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) commencement letters and (b) date each public sector pay review body was requested to publish its recommendation report for each year since 2010.

Beth Winter: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the process for (a) finalising and (b) publishing pay review body remit letters is; and which Departments have a role in that process.

Laura Trott: Pay Review Body (PRB) remit letters, PRB reports and the Government’s responses to those reports for previous years are published on gov.uk.Remit letters, which commence the pay round were sent out on the 20th December to PRBs covering the major frontline public sector workforces, asking them to consider and make recommendations on the pay of their workforces as normal for 2024-25.Departments are working on their evidence to PRBs which will be submitted in due course. The Government has outlined the requested date to receive the PRBs reports in the remit letters for this year.

Research: Tax Allowances

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of research and development (R&D) tax relief claims being disallowed by HMRC on (a) the level of R&D being undertaken by individual companies and (b) retention of R&D companies in the UK.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK’s R&D tax reliefs provide generous support to encourage companies to conduct R&D activity, driving innovation and growth in the UK.Where a claim is disallowed because it is not legitimate R&D, HMRC would not expect this to have an impact on either retention or the amount of R&D undertaken by companies.

Ministry of Defence

Navy

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Royal Navy sailors are available for time at sea.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As of the 24 January 2024 the number of fully trained and deployable Royal Navy sailors is 19,470 which is 86% of the total Royal Navy regular population. All personnel rotate periodically through both shore and sea based posts - both of which contribute to Royal Navy outputs. This also allows personnel to take well deserved leave, and to conduct necessary training.

Navy: Officers

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2024 to Question 8666 on Navy: Officers, how many personnel in the Royal Navy held the rank of (a) Vice Admiral, (b) Rear Admiral and (c) Admiral in (i) 2022, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2019 and (iv) 2018.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The following figures show Royal Navy personnel in the rank of (a) Vice Admiral, (b) Rear Admiral and (c) Admiral in (i) 2022, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2019 and (iv) 2018. Regular Royal Navy and Royal Marines at Paid Ranks of OF7-OF9, as at 1 Apr 2018 - 2022.  01-April-201801-April-201901-April-202001-April-202101-April-2022 OF9 - Admiral / General22223 OF8 - Vice Admiral / Lt-General88789 OF7 - Rear Admiral / Major-General2832322728  Source: Analysis (Navy)1. Within the OF9 group there may be personnel ranked as OF10 at certain time points, to keep in line with published statistics they have been grouped. 2. Data is provided for Regular personnel, Full Time Reservists and Mobilised Reservists have been excluded.  These figures are taken from the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics available at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2023

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Pain

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2023 to Question 3438 on Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Pain, when the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme started to recognise both primary and secondary chronic pain as a condition of itself for which a separate award for injury could be made.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2023 to Question 3438 on Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Pain, whether the tariff system within the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme allows for a separate award to be made for (a) chronic neuropathic pain, (b) chronic secondary visceral pain, (c) chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain, (d) chronic secondary headache or orofacial pain, (e) chronic postsurgical or posttraumatic pain and (f) chronic cancer-related pain where the initial injury is attributable to service but is recognised as disproportional or no longer attached to that initial injury.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The terms primary and secondary chronic pain are reflected within a new approach to pain nomenclature introduced by the 2022 World Health Organisation disease classification system (International Classification of Diseases 11 (ICD 11)). ICD 11 is not yet in widespread use in routine UK clinical practice, nor referenced in the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) Order, which uses the extant ICD 10. Dependent on case specific evidence, AFCS awards have been made for pain since the introduction of AFCS in 2005. Awards for all AFCS tariff descriptors include an element for pain and suffering. Where pain is reasonably controlled with treatment of the underlying condition and AFCS entitlement criteria for that condition are met, the award covers all pain and suffering i.e. a separate standalone chronic pain diagnosis is not recognised. If, despite appropriate treatment of the accepted condition, pain remains uncontrolled, and is claimed as a separate /additional claimed condition, an award may be paid dependent on case facts. Separate awards for the categories of secondary pain listed a-f within the question may be made in line with this approach.

Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) budget and (b) spending was of the Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for veterans was jointly commissioned by the Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs in the Cabinet Office in March 2023, and did not have a specific budget allocation. The team that conducted the review over four months was made up of three civil servants on loan from other Government Departments, consisting of an independent Senior Civil Servant at Pay Band 1, and two civil servants at Grade 6.

Ministry of Defence: Health and Safety

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 65 of the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023, published on 20 July 2023, how much funding has been allocated to the programme to tackle health and safety risks on his Department's estate.

James Cartlidge: Defence plans to invest circa £5.3 billion over the next 10 years in SLA (pending ABC24 outcomes). This includes a programme of Safe & Legal works as part of the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and compliance actions are prioritised over other activities such as reactive maintenance.

Ministry of Defence: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to strengthen his Department's (a) governance and (b) internal controls assurance processes.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 75 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, what steps he is taking to increase the maturity of second line of defence activities in front line commands.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 76 of the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023, published on 20 July 2023, what steps he is taking to improve functional oversight of assurance.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to prioritise sufficient resources for the delivery of oversight mechanisms for risk and assurance.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to strengthen the linkage between (a) Board risks, (b) disaggregated risks and (c) risks owned and managed in individual entities of his Department.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) follows the Code of Good Practice for corporate governance in central government departments and undertakes regular reviews of its governance structure to ensure it remains fit for purpose for managing delivery and performance. The Lead Non-Executive Director assesses Board performance each year and the department has challenge functions for its senior committees to help bring diversity of thought to decision making. The department also undertakes regular reviews of its Operating Model. The Defence Operating Model outlines the roles, responsibilities, authorities and accountabilities across Defence and the key delivery, decision-making, management and assurance processes. The Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 pages 72 to 76 details how risks are managed within the department. The Defence Command Paper Refresh (DCPR) published on 18 July 2023 sets out Defence’s priority to embed a sophisticated approach to managing risk through a significant improvement programme. This will align the Department’s risks with the commitments outlined in the DCPR, Defence Strategy and wider cross-government priorities, providing a clear line of sight from Board level risks through to all disaggregated levels of departmental risks. The Defence Board and the Defence Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee (DARAC) have approved the improvement programme and have oversight of delivery. These changes will be delivered across whole Defence enterprise, including functions and front-line commands. MOD continues to mature the operation of its functions, in support of the wider development of the Government’s Functional model. Improvement activities as set out in the Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 on page 76 include maturing the annual assurance reporting process, refreshing the risk management framework for the Department, strengthening the three Lines of Defence model to clarify the accountabilities and governance requirements for each line, and developing a risk-based assurance map. These improvements will integrate assurance across the three Lines of Defence, ensuring assurance activities remain proportionate to the level of risk in the department and its risk appetite.

Defence: Procurement

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when social value considerations will be included in all single source procurement contracts.

James Cartlidge: The aim of all public spend is to optimise social value as set out in the HM Treasury Green Book, including single source procurement contracts undertaken by Ministry of Defence (MOD). The Social Value Model seeks additional benefits. In MOD the Social Value Model is applied to all competitive procurements (where it is relevant and proportionate to do so) but has not currently mandated its use for single source procurements. Social Value considerations can be applied to single source procurements through requirement setting and negotiated to a position of mutual agreement. However, single source procurements in defence are subject to existing Single Source Contract Regulations and as such applying the Social Value Model is not a straightforward matter. We are considering how the Model can be applied to achieve the policy intent in single source procurement contracts.

Amphibious Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to (a) maintain and (b) improve amphibious assault capabilities.

James Cartlidge: The Commando Force modernisation programme is delivering a fundamental change to the UK's amphibious capabilities. The programme will be delivered in two investment increments, called OPERATE and FIGHT. OPERATE will deliver a transformation of 3 Commando Brigade's operational capability on land while FIGHT will deliver the additional capabilities required to conduct ship-to-shore operations in a contested maritime environment.On current plans, the Landing Platform Docks, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, will retire from service by the end of 2034. As part of the transformation of our Commando Forces, options for future amphibious capability are being developed in the form of the Multi Role Support Ship (MRSS).The Secretary of State has also commissioned a plan on how the Royal Marines excellent work and capabilities can be bolstered and enhanced to protect Britain from a world that has grown more dangerous. An update to the House will be provided in due course.

Defence Equipment & Support: Training

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 47 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, how many (a) experience sessions, (b) masterclasses and (c) communication campaigns there were to raise awareness of new policies and guidance.

James Cartlidge: In 2022-23 there were a range of safety related events to help promote a strong safety culture within Defence Equipment and Support. These included three one-day experience events, all of which were also recorded and form part of awareness training. There were 139 courses/masterclasses.There were a series of monthly and quarterly communications to raise awareness of policies and guidance. Further to this, there were also13 Communication Safety Bulletins (SEB 034 - SEB 046) released, notifying staff of policy and guidance changes.

Defence Equipment & Support: Equality

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 40 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, what the 16 sub-targets were; and of those, which (a) were and (b) were not met.

James Cartlidge: The status of the 16 sub-targets for DE&S KPI 4.1 (Culture and Inclusion), at the end of reporting year 2022-23, is shown in the table below. Note that since the publication of these sub-targets the nomenclature of the grade Senior Admin Specialist (SAS) has changed to Senior Technical Specialist.TargetsStatusCommercialIncrease Ethnic Minority (EM) representation at Senior Admin Specialist (SAS) – Professional II (PII) to 6.5%Not MetIncrease female representation at Professional I (PI) – Senior Professional (SP) to 41.8%MetCorporate Services GroupIncrease female representation at SP to be 35%Not MetIncrease EM representation to be 6%Not MetEngineering20% of Engineering new joiners to be femaleNot MetMaintain female attrition 0.5% below male rateNot MetFinance & AccountingIncrease disabled representation at PI - SP to 4.2%Not MetIncrease EM representation at PI - SP to 8.4%MetHRIncrease EM representation to 7.5%MetMaintain Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Other representation at ≥3.4%MetIntegrated LogisticsIncrease female representation in PII-SP to 26.5%MetIncrease EM representation in PII - PI to 4.9%Not MetInformation Management & ITIncrease female representation at PII – SP to 30.5%MetIncrease in EM representation at PII – SP to 7.1%MetProject DeliveryIncrease female representation at PI to 30%Not MetIncrease EM representation at PI to 4%Not Met DE&S uses its own grade structure and grading methodology. This utilises a broadly comparable read across to Civil Service grades, but does not confirm exact grade equivalency between DE&S and other Civil Service organisations:DE&S GradeCivil Service GradeSenior Leadership Group 3 (SLG3*)Director General (Senior Civil Service 3)Senior Leadership Group 2 (SLG2*)Director (Senior Civil Service 2)Senior Leadership Group 1 (SLG1*)Deputy Director (Senior Civil Service 1)Senior Professional (SP)G6Professional I (PI)G7Professional II (PII)Senior Executive Officer (SEO)Senior Technical/Senior Specialist I (STSI)Higher Executive Officer (HEO)Senior Technical/Senior Specialist II (STSII)Executive Officer (EO)Technical/Specialist I (TSI)Administrative Officer (AO)Technical/Specialist II (TSII)Administrative Assistant (AA)

Defence Equipment & Support

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 25 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Account 2022-23, what recent progress has been made on the creation of the three control centres.

James Cartlidge: The three control centres achieved Initial Operating Capability in December 2023. These include the Defence Availability Centre, Digital Engineering Centre, Battlespace Integration Centre all hosted in an interim physical facility in MOD Abbey Wood. These are now collectively referred to as Capability Centres rather than control centres following client feedback. Further engagement with key stakeholders is ongoing to develop the future operation of the centres.

Defence Equipment & Support

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 25 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Account 2022-23, what steps he has taken to simplify and accelerate internal initiatives.

James Cartlidge: Defence Equipment and Support is taking steps to simplify and accelerate internal change initiatives to better meet the demands placed on it. DE&S is reforming its operating model. It is changing the way it resources its activities to make best use of its people and focus on Defence's priorities. It is also introducing agile delivery tools and ways of working to improve task prioritisation and reduce systemic waste.

Defence Equipment & Support

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, whether the review of the DE&S operating model has been completed.

James Cartlidge: Work is currently underway on a new operating model for Defence Equipment and Support, which will improve both its internal processes and how it interfaces with Ministry of Defence, industry and allies. The design phase is in progress, which includes direct input from senior leaders from the Front Line Commands to ensure a cross-defence approach to new ways of working. The first teams to take selected projects through to test while refining the new design will be stood up in February 2024. The aim is to have the new DE&S operating model fully operational by March 2025.

Defence Equipment & Support

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, what recent progress has been made on the automation of key control processes.

James Cartlidge: Since July 2023, Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) has fully delivered robust, auditable, automated solutions in key control process areas such as declarations of interest and gifts and hospitality. It has extended the control portfolio of processes to also include digitised travel and subsistence checks and a more robust, digitally automated financial letter of delegation process. Collectively, DE&S has increased automation to allow the operation of 114 live automation processes and, to date, has delivered over 3,400,000 automated transactions, saving its workforce over 550,000 hours of automated benefit through transactional or workflow processing. Work to build on this progress is ongoing.

Defence Equipment & Support: Training

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, how many staff members have undertaken training in forensic accounting as of 18 January 2024.

James Cartlidge: 20 Defence Equipment and Support employees have undertaken training in forensic accounting as of 18 January 2024.

Defence Equipment & Support: Carbon Emissions

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, whether a decision has been made on the location of the two net zero pilot sites.

James Cartlidge: The two pilot sites selected for the delivery of Net Zero are Defence Munitions Crombie and Defence Munitions Plymouth.

Defence Equipment & Support

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 15 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Project Delivery function.

James Cartlidge: The Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Project Delivery Function is subject to frequent review and audit to ensure its effectiveness. In addition to DE&S' internal governance, MOD Head Office assures DE&S outputs with independent review and audit provided by the Government Internal Audit Agency and National Audit Office.

Defence Equipment & Support: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 11 of the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, for which three key themes did DE&S not record a positive shift in its latest People Survey.

James Cartlidge: The three themes that did not record a positive shift in the 2022 survey were 'Leadership & Managing Change', 'Learning & Development' and 'Resources & Workload'. These three themes each kept the same scores as in the 2021 survey.

Defence Equipment & Support: Training

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 9 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, how many sessions entitled Let’s Talk About Behaviours did (a) executives and (b) senior leaders lead in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

James Cartlidge: A total of eight Executive Let's Talk About Behaviours sessions were held in 2022. A total of 14 senior leader Let's Talk About Behaviours sessions were held in 2022, and 36 senior leader Let's Talk About Behaviours sessions were held in 2023.

Defence Equipment & Support: Disability and Ethnic Groups

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 9 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, what estimate he has made of the date by which the leadership development programmes for those (a) with a declared disability and (b) from an ethnic minority will be operational.

James Cartlidge: Dates have not been confirmed, but we are anticipating that these programmes will be available in Q1 of the 2024-25 reporting year.

Defence Equipment & Support: Women

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of Defence Equipment and Support staff were women in each year since 2019.

James Cartlidge: The below table illustrates the proportion of female civilian Defence Equipment and Support staff from 31 March 31 2019, to 31 March 2023. Historic records are not held on service personnel assigned to Defence Equipment and Support. End of Financial YearFemale ProportionFemale HeadcountTotal Headcount2018-1933%3,49110,4652019-2034%3,70810,8582020-2134%3,65210,7012021-2234.6%3,71810,7432022-2335.5%3,86910,905

Military Bases: Heating

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 09 January 2023 to Question 113208 on Military Bases: Heating, which of the bases listed fall under the Future Defence Infrastructure Services Built Estate contract for (a) the South West, (b) Central, (c) the South East and (d) any other regions.

James Cartlidge: The table below shows the Future Defence Infrastructure Services Built Estate contract region of each base listed in Question 113208: RegionBaseSouth WestHMS Raleigh Commando Training Centre Lympstone HMS Sultan HMS Collingwood Stonehouse BarracksCentralCHOM, YHOM, DOM and No 1 Mess RAFC Cranwell Catterick Garrison RAF CosfordSouth EastRAF Halton

Skynet: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's planned timescale is for launching the procurement for the wideband satellite system element of the Skynet 6 programme.

James Cartlidge: The competition for the Skynet wideband satellite procurement commenced on 31 May 2023. After detailed pre-qualification activity, an invitation to negotiate was issued to three groups on 14 November 2023 with the first bids expected back for assessment on 20 March 2024.

Vodafone Group: Contracts

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8292 on Vodafone Group: Contracts, when his Department last made an assessment of the adequacy of its contracts with Vodafone; and for what reasons his Department reviewed those contracts.

James Cartlidge: As previously stated, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) actively monitors all of its key suppliers and their current contracts including those with Vodafone in accordance with MOD policy and process. The MOD last reviewed its contractual position with Vodafone in the Summer of 2023, following the announcement of the merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK.

Army: Commonwealth

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on the roles Commonwealth soldiers are eligible to apply for while serving in the British Army.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Commonwealth citizens are eligible to apply to join the UK Armed Forces. Like their British and Irish counterparts, they must meet the required eligibility criteria including age, educational, fitness and medical, as well as UK residency for security vetting purposes which varies depending on rank and role. In addition, since November 2018 there has been an annual limit of up to 1,350 Commonwealth citizens who can be recruited each year by the Armed Forces. The Army also has a 15% limit on the number of Commonwealth citizens serving in each cap badge. These requirements can limit the number of roles available at a particular time.

War Widow(er)s: Pensions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, How many war widows who lost their War Widow's Pension and did not benefit from changes on 31 March 1973 and 5 April 2005 have since been compensated by his Department.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, If he will publish his Department's proposals to compensate war widows who lost their War Widow's Pension and did not benefit from changes on 31 March 1973 and 5 April 2005.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The War Widows Recognition Payment was announced in Parliament on 17 May 2023. A further announcement with details on taxation was made by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 19 September 2023. On 16 October 2023 the full policy was launched and details are available at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/war-widowers-recognition-payment As at 19 January 2024, the number of War Widows Recognition Payments awarded was 100.

Cabinet Office

D-Day Landings: Anniversaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lighting a D-Day 80 Lamp Light of Peace.

Johnny Mercer: The Government recognises the significance of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day this year as an important opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of those who fought during World War Two. Officials from across government are working to support the 80th anniversary celebrations with the appropriate events. The Ministry of Defence and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will liaise with the Cabinet Office so that the Major Events Team here can support as required.

Veterans: Sleeping Rough

Steve McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what evidential basis the Office for Veterans Affairs said that there were no veteran rough sleepers as of Christmas 2023.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how often the Office of Veterans' Affairs (a) collects and (b) analyses the number of veterans who are sleeping rough.

Johnny Mercer: Through Op FORTITUDE, the single referral pathway for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness, this Government ensured that no veteran was forced to sleep rough over Christmas due to a lack of available provision, supporting over 450 veterans into housing to date. The Office for Veterans’ Affairs uses a number of data sources to monitor the levels of rough sleeping amongst veterans. This includes a number of data sources collected by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Combined Homelessness Information Network (CHAIN) data as well as relevant evidence bases including those collected by the Devolved Administrations.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Seeds: Northern Ireland

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Windsor Framework on the trade in seeds between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Mark Spencer: The Windsor Framework permits the movement of all seeds from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Previous movements of seeds would require a Phytosanitary Certificate which can be costly and burdensome. Since 1 October 2023, professional operators have been able to move seeds from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Plant Health Label scheme, allowing seeds to move freely around the United Kingdom. Defra continues to engage widely and regularly with relevant stakeholders to understand the impact of the Windsor Framework on the plant and seed trade.

Marine Environment: Environment Protection

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the Marine Spatial Prioritisation programme.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is working with key Government departments, organisations such as the Marine Management Organisation, Crown Estate and North Sea Transition Authority, and the marine sectors to improve our understanding of the different demands on the English seas. Specifically, in 2023 the programme has engaged across multiple sectors, including fishing, cabling, environment and energy, to identify opportunities for greater co-location. We will continue this engagement in 2024.

Deer

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps in his Department's forthcoming national deer management strategy to help ensure the adequacy of (a) capacity to process deer carcasses if culling levels increase and (b) the supply of venison to the (i) private and (ii) public sector in the next five years.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is working with stakeholders including Grown in Britain, game dealers and shooting and conservation associations to support development of the wild venison supply chain. This includes facilitating an industry GB Wild Venison Working Group to improve sector resilience, develop branding, traceability and promote the British Quality Wild Venison Standard and exploring opportunities for more public procurement of wild venison, with the aim of increasing overall demand for wild venison. We are also providing funding towards wild venison related projects in a number of our National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, through the Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme. The forthcoming deer management strategy will set out actions that will go further in supporting domestic wild venison.

Government Departments: Environment Protection

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the Greening Government Commitments Annual Reports for (a) April 2021 to March 2022 and (b) April 2022 to March 2023.

Rebecca Pow: The Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) set out the actions that the Government will take to improve the environmental performance of its own estate and operations, driving specific progress towards Environmental Improvement Plan goals.We plan to publish the 2021 to 2022 GGCs Annual Report in the first half of 2024, with the 2022 to 2023 report planned for later this year.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: ICT

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraphs 1.2 and 1.3 of the Government response to the Fifty-first Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2022-23 on Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services, HC 737, published on 21 July 2023, whether his Department has shared the document on key lessons and success factors behind the progress it has made in addressing legacy IT with the Central Digital and Data Office.

Mark Spencer: Yes, we have shared the document, and will be providing more detail as part of the Treasury Minute process.

Fluorinated Gases

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of alternatives to fluorinated gases.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for industry to use alternatives to fluorinated gases.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department will publish the consultation on fluorinated gas regulation.

Robbie Moore: We undertook a joint review of the GB F gas Regulation and published our assessment report in December 2022 (available online). We are now in the process of developing policy proposals for reform and intend to consult on these in due course. Both the assessment report and consultation consider the use and effectiveness of alternatives.

Cork (Material): Recycling

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including natural cork in the list of materials to attract higher modulated fees under the extended producer responsibility scheme.

Robbie Moore: Defra officials are currently collating the evidence received from an extended programme of stakeholder engagement on modulated fees which was carried out over the second half of 2023. This engagement has included consideration of natural cork. The Government intends to seek further stakeholder input in this area, including to further assess business impact, before finalising any proposals. The final decisions on packaging materials with increased fees will be agreed and announced by the Scheme Administrator for the UK Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging.

Water Supply: Public Bodies

Ashley Dalton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to bring forward legislative proposals to make it easier for communities to establish a Water Management Board.

Robbie Moore: There is currently a technical barrier to the creation of new and expansion of existing internal drainage boards (IDBs), also known as water level management boards. The Government has amended the Land Drainage Act 1991, via the Environment Act 2021, to remove this barrier. This enables new updated valuation calculations for IDBs to use in apportioning their expenses between the beneficiaries of their work - drainage rates paid by farmers and special levies paid by local authorities - to be included in secondary legislation. We will aim to implement the statutory instrument as soon as possible, pending the outcome of the consultation which we hope to launch shortly. It is a local choice where a new IDB is created, where there is local support to do so.

Northern Ireland Office

Jimmy Dunlop

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with (a) his Irish counterpart and (b) the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on whether steps were taken to question Jimmy Dunlop about the Claudy bombings of 31 July 1972 prior to his death.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The UK Government has, and will continue to, hold discussions with the Irish Government on a range of issues, including legacy. Policing and justice in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. Operational matters regarding the investigation of criminal conduct in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI), which is rightly operationally independent of the Government.

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission: Costs

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) Human Rights Commission and (b) Equality Commission in each of the last ten years.

Mr Steve Baker: In line with the requirements of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) provide the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with a copy of their Annual Report and Accounts which are laid in the House. These accounts are publicly available and the honourable Member may view these via the NIHRC and ECNI’s websites which I have detailed below. Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionwww.nihrc.orgEquality Commission for Northern Irelandwww.equalityni.org

Ministry of Justice

Aiding and Abetting: Convictions

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 8 January 2024 to Question 7656 on Aiding and Abetting: Convictions, what his planned timetable is for completing the Common Platform Programme.

Mike Freer: The feasibility of collecting data on joint enterprise cases is being considered as part of the development of the Common Platform Programme.We are unable at this stage, however, to give a firm timescale for the completion of this work.

Department for Business and Trade

Exports: China

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to China in the last two years.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to driving forward export growth, helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe including China. UK exports to China amounted to £37.5 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 11.9% or £4.0 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making China the UK's 6th largest export market.Via Great.gov.uk, UK businesses can access DBT's wealth of export support. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisers, export champions, the Export Academy, International Markets network, and UK Export Finance.

Exports: Exports: Belgium

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to Belgium in the last two years.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to driving forward export growth and helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe including Belgium. UK exports to Belgium amounted to £25.3 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 3.5% or £0.9 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making Belgium the UK's 8th largest export market.UK businesses can access DBT's wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance.

Exports: Italy

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to Italy in the last two years.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to driving forward export growth, helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe including Italy. UK exports to Italy amounted to £18.2 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 13.4% or £2.1 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making Italy the UK's 11th largest export market.Via Great.gov.uk, UK businesses can access DBT's wealth of export support. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisers, export champions, the Export Academy, International Markets network, and UK Export Finance.

Exports: Netherlands

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to the Netherlands in the last two years.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to driving forward export growth and helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe including the Netherlands. UK exports to the Netherlands amounted to £55.3 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 0.9% or £0.5 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making the Netherlands the UK’s 4th largest export market.The DBT Netherlands team continues to focus on building strategic relations with UK and Dutch businesses, identify and advocate opportunities for UK products to meet Dutch demand, and assist UK companies to make the most of those opportunities.

Sub Post Offices: Repayments

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with the Board of the Post Office Ltd on what the total value was of funds wrongly claimed back from sub postmasters using Horizon software.

Kevin Hollinrake: I hold meetings with the Post Office CEO on a monthly basis where we discuss the topic of Horizon compensation delivery.Postmasters who paid shortfalls which were recorded in Horizon to the Post Office are paid those amounts back in their compensation claims, as well as any other financial and personal damage which they have suffered as a consequence of the IT system.Government has made funding available for both the Horizon Shortfall Scheme and for Overturned Convictions compensation. Post Office has published its provisions for both in its annual accounts and Government has published the level of funding available on the Subsidy Transparency Database.

Companies: Registration

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2023 to Question 6822 on Companies: Registration, when the broader powers given to the Registrar under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 will come into effect; and whether her Department will provide additional resources to the Registrar to ensure it is able to use these powers.

Kevin Hollinrake: The reforms we are making to Companies House are significant, and we are adopting a phased approach to implementation. The new powers at the Registrar's disposal will come into effect over the coming months, with many being available to the Registrar from 4 March. Some others, such as ID verification, require secondary legislation and significant systems development, and will not take effect until later.We are committed to ensuring the Registrar has the necessary resources to implement these changes.

Department for Education

Apprentices

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of apprentices who did not complete an apprenticeship that they had started completed the apprenticeship exit survey in the 2022-2023 academic year.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of respondents to the apprentice exit survey reported that financial issues contributed to them not finishing an apprenticeship in the 2022-23 academic year.

Robert Halfon: The department is committed to supporting as many apprentices as possible to stay on their programme, to achieve and have to a high-quality experience.The department wants to ensure that apprentice pay supports talented individuals to start and stay in apprenticeships. From April 2024, the apprentice minimum wage will increase by 21.2% to £6.40. Many employers pay their apprentices more than the minimum, with the latest data showing that the median gross hourly pay for apprentices in 2021 was £9.98 an hour.The department continues to provide additional financial support to employers and providers to encourage more apprenticeship opportunities and to help meet additional costs associated with apprenticeships. The department provides £1,000 payments to employers and providers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and up to 24 for apprentices with an Education, Health and Care plan, which can be used to support costs such as work equipment, uniforms, or travel. The department has also increased the care leavers’ bursary from £1,000 to £3,000.3,658 apprentices have responded to the exit questionnaire since it was launched in October 2022. Of those, 679 (19%) cited financial reasons as contributing to their withdrawal from their apprenticeship.

Adult Education: English Language and Mathematics

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided for adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy education in further education colleges in each of the last 10 years.

Robert Halfon: This government is committed to supporting people to climb the ladder of opportunity towards better jobs, better wellbeing and better options for the future. To enable this, the department recognises the importance of numeracy skills, both in work and everyday life. That is why the department launched Multiply in 2022, the government’s programme for improving adult numeracy. This is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the government’s flagship fund for supporting people and places across the UK. Up to £270 million is available in England and up to £160 million in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to deliver innovative initiatives to tackle poor adult numeracy. The department is responsible for delivery of the Multiply programme in England. Table of Multiply Programme Spend by Financial Year (England only):2021/222022/23£0.32 million£51.88 millionThe spend figures for the 2023/24 financial year will be available in June 2024. Delivery is now underway. Multiply provision is available in all 81 local areas in England that were allocated funding, with over 67,000 course starts since the programme began to August 2023. Local Areas determine Multiply provision, which will include, but not exclusive to, numeracy interventions delivered by further education colleges. The Adult Education Budget (AEB) fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to Level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. This includes fully funded English and mathematics courses up to and including Level 2 for learners aged 19+. In 2022/23, the government devolved approximately 60% of the AEB to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are now responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the AEB to providers. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas. The attached file contains adult (19+) further education literacy and numeracy courses delivered through the AEB from the 2015/16 academic. Please note:The data shows the funding earned for delivery through AEB for literacy and numeracy.The data does not include delivery of literacy and numeracy courses through 19 to 24 Traineeships and Community Learning as Community Learning is not formula funded and therefore funding cannot be assigned to specific types of provision.The data covers delivery through all providers not just further education colleges, therefore will cover local authorities, private providers, etc.In 2019/20 the AEB started being devolved, therefore some funding was routed through devolved authorities and currently approximately 60% of AEB funding is devolved. Therefore, funding shown since 2019/20 only relates to learners who are residing in non-devolved areas and are therefore funded by the ESFA.10485_data_table (xlsx, 26.5KB)

Schools: Absenteeism

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce school absenteeism in Lancashire.

Damian Hinds: The department has a comprehensive national attendance strategy to ensure that every child attends school every day in all regions of the country.This includes the recently expanded attendance hubs programme. There are now a total of almost 2,000 schools, including nine schools in Lancashire, who have been assigned a hub to tackle persistent absence, reaching around 1 million pupils. Attendance hubs are led by senior leaders in schools with effective attendance practice as a way for them to share practical approaches and resources for improving attendance.The department published guidance on working together to improve school attendance to ensure that all local authorities and schools, including those in Lancashire, work together to reduce school absenteeism. The guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf.Local authorities, including Lancashire, are expected to rigorously track local attendance data to devise a strategic approach to attendance. In addition, all schools in all regions are required to have an attendance policy and to appoint an attendance champion who is responsible for enforcing this. To help identify children at risk of persistent absence and to enable early intervention, the department established a timelier flow of pupil level attendance data through the daily attendance data collection.

Adult Education: English Language and Mathematics

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support adults to reach GCSE level English and Maths.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will help provide free adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy education.

Robert Halfon: This government recognises the importance of English and mathematics skills, both in work and everyday life. Securing good levels of literacy and numeracy increases individual productivity, improves earnings and employment opportunities, supports economic growth and breaks cycles of intergenerational economic and social disadvantage.Consequently, the department is continuing to support participation in English and mathematics provision through ‘essential skills entitlements’ which provide the opportunity of free study for adults who do not have essential literacy and numeracy skills up to and including Level 2.This allows learners who have not previously attained a GCSE grade 4 or higher to undertake a range of courses fully-funded through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) including GCSEs, Functional Skills and other relevant qualifications from entry level to Level 2.The department also supports training for adults in community settings through the AEB. Prioritised for disadvantaged learners, community learning can provide a 'stepping stone' for those adults who are not ready for formal accredited learning, or who would benefit from learning in a more informal way.In addition, all apprentices, including adults, are funded to achieve up to a Level 2 in English and mathematics by the end of their apprenticeship. The department has increased the apprenticeship funding rate for English and mathematics by 54% from January to support apprentices to gain these vital skills, from £471 to £724.The department has also launched the Multiply programme to improve adult numeracy. This is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the government’s flagship fund for supporting people and places across the UK. Up to £270 million is directly available for local areas in England to deliver innovative interventions to improve adult numeracy. Delivery is now well underway. Multiply provision is available across the country, with over 67,000 course starts in England since the programme began to the end of August 2023.

Young People: Work Experience

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing young adults who are not engaging with school to attend placements with employers.

Damian Hinds: Regular attendance at school is vital for children’s education, wellbeing and long-term development. School attendance is mandatory and parents have a duty, under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, to ensure that their child of compulsory age, from 5 to 16 years old, receives an efficient full-time education. During their time in school, pupils should be able to benefit from a range of work experience placements as part of the wider curriculum. The careers statutory guidance makes it clear that schools and colleges should offer every pupil at least one experience of a workplace by age 16 and a further experience by age 18 through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience, in line with Gatsby Benchmark 6. This provides pupils with multiple opportunities to learn from different employers about work and the skills that are valued in the workplace. Where a pupil is not attending school regularly, the department expects schools and local authorities to consider the individual circumstances of each pupil and family, and take the best course of action to support the child’s return to school. The department would encourage parents to work with their child’s school and the local authority to discuss the reasons behind their absence and together agree a plan so that the right support can be put in place to help the child return to regular and consistent education. Ultimately, the local authority has the duty, under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996, to provide education for compulsory aged children. Vocational placements, as part of an alternative provision offer, can provide a valuable ‘hook’ back into learning, as well as providing essential life skills for some of our most disengaged learners. At post-16, pupils have access to a range of work placement opportunities. Thousands of young people have benefited from world-class T Levels, all of which include a meaningful industry placement with an employer of at least 45 days.

Department for Transport

Railways: Tickets

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with rail company operators on the reasons for which there are differences in the cost of (a) online and (b) ticket machine ticket purchases.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department will make an assessment of the disparities in pricing between (a) online retailers of train tickets and (b) station based ticket machines.

Huw Merriman: Ticket Vending Machines are typically used to purchase low price, short distance fares on the day of travel, rather than advanced fares. We are working closely with industry to improve the rail retailing offer and make it quicker and more convenient for passengers to buy tickets, including by rolling out pilots on simpler fares and pay-as-you-go technology.

Aviation: EU Law

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 6120 on Aviation: EU Law, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a derogation to regulation EU 261/2004 for twin otter aircraft (a) with a carrying capacity of 20 passengers or fewer and (b) that operate on public service obligation air routes with regard to timetable changes one month ahead of their expected flight, to increase flexibility and efficiency.

Anthony Browne: The Department has committed to further consultation on the compensation and payment frameworks for flight disruption under Regulation 261/2004. The full scope of that consultation has not yet been determined.

Bicycles: Hire Services and Loans

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the use of the Capability Fund by local authorities to implement cycle (a) loan and (b) share schemes since July 2021.

Guy Opperman: The most recent monitoring data, from May 2023, indicates that 41 cycle loan and share schemes were being delivered using funding provided by the Capability Fund 2021/22 and 21 schemes thorough Capability Fund 2022/23, with a total value of £1.2 million.

Railways: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of of 15 January 2024 to Question 9001 on Wales Rail Board, what (a) rail infrastructure improvements and (b) investments the Welsh Rail Board has recommended since March 2022.

Huw Merriman: The Wales Rail Board has recently completed an initial prioritised view of rail infrastructure improvements and investments required to support future service aspirations in Wales.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish his response to his Department's consultation on Managing pavement parking, published on 31 August 2020.

Guy Opperman: The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to our consultation, and we are currently working through the policy options and the possible legislative opportunities for delivering them. Following conclusion of this process, we will publish our formal response. The formal consultation response will be available to view at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/managing-pavement-parking.

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the findings of his Department's review of low-traffic neighbourhoods.

Guy Opperman: The low traffic neighbourhood review is due to conclude shortly. Once complete, the Department will consider the findings. The results will be published in due course thereafter.

Transport: Southend West

Anna Firth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will attend a local transport summit in Southend West constituency.

Guy Opperman: The Government regularly engages with bus operators and Local Transport Authorities to deliver better bus services for passengers as set out in the National Bus Strategy. I would welcome the opportunity to attend a local transport summit, either in-person or virtually, in the honourable member's constituency subject to availability.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with car insurance providers on the impact of their policies on writing-off cars on trends in the level of car insurance policies.

Guy Opperman: Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues. These include the cost of insurance, and factors that can impact on this.

Chalkwell Station: Construction

Anna Firth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2024 to Question 7460 on Chalkwell Station: Construction, for what reason the hon. Member for Southend West has not been notified when work on site is due to commence.

Huw Merriman: Further to the answer of 8th January 2024, discussions continue to agree a date for the start of work at Chalkwell station. I reaffirm the commitment to notify the hon member when a date has been agreed and hope to be able to provide that information by the start of Spring.

Attorney General

Discretionary Trusts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Attorney General, whether her Department has had recent discussions with the Law Society on the management of Family Protection Trusts by firms of solicitors.

Robert Courts: While the Attorney General and I, and our department, regularly engage with the legal professions, we have not discussed the management of Family Protection Trusts by firms of solicitors with the Law Society.

Attorney General: Written Questions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2023 to Question 9197 on Attorney General: Written Questions, for what reason her Department has been unable to answer the Questions within the usual time period.

Victoria Prentis: I responded to your questions 6773 and 6774 on 24 January 2024. Please accept my apologies for the delay.

Wales Office

Cost of Living: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the cost of living in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on (a) the cost of living and (b) food poverty in (i) Newport West constituency and (ii) Wales.

David T C Davies: I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues and Welsh Government Ministers on a wide range of issues, including the cost of living. The UK Government has provided extensive support to Newport West. This includes Cost of Living payments for around 13,100 eligible households totalling up to £900 per household. Furthermore, around 240,000 payments have been delivered in Newport West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. The UK Government recognises the challenges posed by cost of living pressures and consequently has provided unprecedented levels of support to families across the UK. Measures announced at the Autumn Statement mean the UK Government will spend £104 billion between 2022 and 2025 to help families with the cost of living, which is an average of £3,700 per UK household. Owing to the cut in National Insurance tax from January 2024, 1.2 million workers in Wales will benefit from an annual gain of £324. Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to help people with the cost of living. Although housing is a devolved matter, the UK Government is supporting low-income households, by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lower 30% of local rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost.

Cost of Living and Food Poverty: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with the Trussell Trust on (a) the cost of living and (b) food poverty in (i) Newport West constituency and (ii) Wales.

David T C Davies: I have not had any recent discussions with the Trussell Trust on these topics. However, in my role as Secretary of State for Wales, I regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss a wide range of issues such as the cost of living.The UK Government has provided extensive support to Newport West. This includes Cost of Living payments for around 13,100 eligible households totalling up to £900 per household. Furthermore, around 240,000 payments have been delivered in Newport West through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.The UK Government recognises the challenges posed by cost of living pressures and consequently has provided unprecedented levels of support to families across the UK. Measures announced at the Autumn Statement mean the UK Government will spend £104 billion between 2022 and 2025 to help families with the cost of living, which is an average of £3,700 per UK household. Owing to the cut in National Insurance from January 2024, 1.2 million workers in Wales will benefit from an annual gain of £324 back.Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to help people with the cost of living.Although housing is a devolved matter, the UK Government is supporting low-income households by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lower 30% of local rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost.

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much and what proportion of the £100 million fund overseen by the Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board has been spent.

David T C Davies: The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has been set up to support those affected by Tata Steel’s decarbonisation Transition and will be supported by up to £100 million from UK Government and Tata Steel. Decisions on investment will happen once the consultation has concluded and there is an understanding of what the impact of Tata Steel’s decarbonisation plans will be.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Tidal Power

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support the (a) development of and (b) private investment in marine energy technologies; and whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the announcement of Horizon Europe Programme funding for the EURO-TIDES multi-turbine tidal energy project.

Andrew Bowie: The Government continues to support the development of marine energy technologies through research funding. This is on top of the unprecedented 94MW of tidal stream capacity that has been secured through the Contracts for Difference scheme. The Department continues to engage with the Department for Business and Trade on maximising private investment opportunities for the marine energy sector. The recent success of UK tidal stream developers in securing Horizon Europe funding will be of great benefit to the UK and is representative of the UK’s strength in the tidal sector.

Ofgem

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether Ofgem has held recent discussions with relevant stakeholders in Northern Ireland on its duties under section 202 of the Energy Act 2023.

Amanda Solloway: Section 202 obliges Ofgem to consider how its decisions may assist the Secretary of State in meeting the UK-wide net zero targets in the Climate Change Act 2008. Ofgem is established as the gas and electricity markets regulator for Great Britain and it has no regulatory functions exercisable in Northern Ireland. Therefore, our understanding is that Ofgem will not have engaged stakeholders in Northern Ireland regarding this duty, and section 202 does not require Ofgem to consider any different targets legislated for by devolved administrations.

Biofuels: Vegetable Oils

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 199302 on Biofuels: Vegetable Oils, what recent progress her Department has made on publishing its planned consultation on the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil for domestic fuel use.

Amanda Solloway: The Government has begun developing a consultation on the potential use of renewable liquid heating fuels and intends to issue the consultation later this year.

Energy: Housing

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to case study six of research commissioned by her Department entitled Defining and identifying complex-to-decarbonise homes and retrofit solutions Annex C case studies, published on 3 January 2024, what steps her Department plans to take to help consumers with Victorian 'Eco Home' whole house retrofit work.

Amanda Solloway: The Government published the research report ‘Defining and identifying complex-to-decarbonise homes’ alongside the cross-Government review ‘Adapting historic homes for energy efficiency: a review of the barriers’ in January 2024. The review looks at the practical barriers to energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures in historic homes, and sets out the actions the Government is taking to overcome these barriers. The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings, reducing our reliance on fossil fuel heating. In addition, £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028.

Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation: Environment Protection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of green bonds issued by (a) Bruce Power and (b) Ontario Power Generation in Canada.

Amanda Solloway: The UK’s Green Financing Programme (Green Gilt) is a key pillar of the UK government’s green finance agenda, raising money to fund projects with clearly defined climate or environmental benefits. There is significant demand from investors for these products, and it is expected that the ongoing Green Financing Programme will help catalyse further growth of the corporate green bond market. The Government would not normally assess or comment on specific corporate green bond issuances, but we are in the process of establishing a UK Green Taxonomy, which will provide a robust classification system for green economic activities.

Energy: Religious Buildings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting places of worship with high electricity and gas costs.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made a recent assessment of the impact of rising (a) electricity and (b) gas prices on places of worship.

Amanda Solloway: The Secretary of State has not made these specific assessments. However, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) has provided all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users, including places of worship, with a baseline discount on high energy bills, since April 2023 and until 31 March 2024. The EBDS replaced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which has successfully delivered support of £7.4 billion to cut energy costs for businesses.

Climate Change

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee's report entitled 2023 Progress Report to Parliament, published 28 June 2023.

Graham Stuart: On 26 October the Government published its response to the Climate Change Committee 2023 Progress Report. In the response, the Government demonstrates the actions it is taking and responds to all 300 of the Committee’s recommendations.

Natural Gas: Imports

Richard Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what proportion of gas used in the UK is domestically produced; if he will provide a breakdown of non-domestically produced gas used in the UK; and what steps she is taking to help reduce reliance on imported gas products.

Graham Stuart: Indigenous production of gas has been equivalent to around half of UK demand for over a decade (DUKES Chapter 4). Gas imports by origin are published in Energy Trends table 4.4. The UK has a secure and diverse energy system and does not rely on any one source of supply. The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill is designed to give industry certainty as to the future of licensing rounds, which will enhance the UK’s energy security and reduce its reliance on imported gas.

Offshore Industry: Carbon Capture and Storage

Richard Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to encourage (a) investment in and (b) development of the connection between offshore oil and gas and carbon capture, usage and storage technologies.

Richard Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to encourage (a) investment in and (b) development of the connection between onshore oil and gas and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technologies.

Andrew Bowie: The skills and investment of the oil and gas sector will drive our energy transition. A government-funded report looking at the CCUS supply chain found that oil and gas supply chain companies are in prime position to win work in carbon capture and storage. Government is also making it easier for workers to move between different energy sectors, ensuring that their skills can be tapped into to support the transition. The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill introduced last year will support ongoing investment, protect the 200,000 jobs supported by oil and gas, and support the wider energy transition including CCUS development.

Boilers: Public Consultation

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's expected timeline is to publish its response to the Improving boiler standards and efficiency consultation, published on 13 December 2022.

Amanda Solloway: The consultation on Improving Boiler Standards and Efficiency launched on 13 December 2022 and closed on 22 March 2023. We have been analysing responses and plan to publish a government response in due course.

Energy: Meters

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps her Department has taken to help increase the take-up of smart meters.

Amanda Solloway: The Government is committed to enabling as many households and small businesses to benefit from smart meters as soon as possible. This is why we’ve set energy suppliers ambitious, but realistic minimum installation targets to deliver the rollout. Energy suppliers are responsible for engaging their customers and encouraging them to upgrade to smart metering. Smart Energy GB, an independent not for profit organisation is responsible for national consumer engagement on the rollout in Great Britain. Ofgem is responsible for regulating both energy suppliers and Smart Energy GB against their statutory obligations.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the consistency of the (a) distribution of installed SMET2 meters and (b) level of wide area network coverage on the implementation of the smart energy savings competition.

Amanda Solloway: The Smart Energy Savings (SENS) Competition was launched in 2019 and concluded in 2022. To participate, consumers needed an enrolled SMETS1 or SMETS2 meter and Wide Area Network (WAN) coverage, amongst other requirements. Interviews conducted with participants included those with different demographics and household characteristics, such as householder age, property age and income. The competition was successful in identifying positive evidence on household energy savings from smart meter data. The results can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-energy-savings-sens-competition-evaluation.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Cancer: Research

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on levels of funding for research on potential tests and treatments for less survivable cancers.

Andrew Griffith: The Government remains fully committed to tackling all cancer types by investing in cutting-edge research. UK Research and Innovation invests around £200 million annually into cancer research, whilst the National Institute for Health and Care Research invested almost £122 million in 2022/23. The Government’s Healthcare Cancer Mission is being jointly delivered by Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Backed by £22.5 million, it supports the development of new immune-based cancer therapies targeted to a patient’s specific cancer and technologies that enable earlier, more effective cancer diagnosis to improve survival rates.

Cancer: Research

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she has taken to encourage investment in research into (a) tests and (b) treatments for less survivable cancers.

Andrew Griffith: The Government is working hard to improve outcomes for all cancer patients through research, including those with less survivable cancers. In addition to hundreds of millions of cancer research funding annually, the Government demonstrated its commitment through the launch of the Healthcare Cancer Mission, bringing together Government, NHS, industry and charities to tackle cancer. The Mission aims to make the UK a leading testbed for oncology innovation by accelerating the development and commercialisation of a new generation of cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, allowing patients to be diagnosed earlier (key to better outcomes for UK patients) and offered therapies specifically targeting their cancer.

Project Gigabit: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what her planned timetable is for the Project Gigabit procurements for hard to reach communities in Wales.

Julia Lopez: In July 2023, we launched a Project Gigabit cross regional procurement to bring gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard to reach parts of North West Wales, Mid Wales, and South East Wales. Our intention is to award a contract to the successful supplier in the summer. North Wales and South West Wales will be included in a further procurement once the cross regional contract is in place.

Broadband: Prices

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a cap on mid-contract price rises for broadband providers.

Julia Lopez: The Government recognises that households across the country are struggling with their bills as a result of the rise in the cost of living. The Government currently has no plans to intervene into the market to cap price increases. We would expect any such intervention would distort market competition. However, it is essential that telecoms contracts are fair and transparent and any important clauses, such as in-contract price rises, are made clear at the point of sale. In December 2023, Ofcom completed its review into the transparency of inflation-linked, in-contract price rises and is now consulting on proposals to ban providers from including CPI or RPI increases in their contracts. Ofcom’s proposals will require providers to set out clearly – in pounds and pence and at the point of sale – the price the consumer can expect to pay during their contractual period. Ofcom’s consultation closes on 13 February 2024. Ofcom expect to reach their final decision in the Spring.